No. 20 Texas A&M (4-1) starts their stretch at the Players Era Invitational in Las Vegas (MGM Grand Garden Arena, TNT, 3:30 central) against the Oregon Ducks (5-0).
Texas A&M projected starting lineup/key reserves
C: Pharrel Payne (5.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.8 blocks per game)
PF: Solomon Washington (4.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG)
SF: Andersson Garcia (6 PPG, 7 RPG)
SG: Zhuric Phelps (16 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3 APG)
PG: Wade Taylor IV (14 PPG, 4.8 APG)
Reserves:
PF/C Henry Coleman III (11.2 PPG, 6.6 RPG)
G/SF Manny Obaseki (9.6 PPG, 2.2 RPG)
SF Jace Carter (4.5 PPG, 5 RPG)
SF Hayden Hefner (5.4 PPG, .8 RPG)
G CJ Wilcher (4.8 PPG, 1 RPG)
Oregon projected starting lineup/key reserves
C: Nate Bittle (16.2 PPG, 10.2 RPG)
PF: Brandon Angel (9.8 PPG, 3 RPG)
G: Jadrian Tracey (11 PPG, 2.2)
G: TJ Bamba (10.4 PPG, 3.2)
G: Jackson Shelstad (8.8 PPG, 4.8 APG)
Reserves:
G Keeshawn Barthelemey (8 PPG, 1.4 APG)
F Kwame Evans Jr. (8.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG)
F Supreme Cook (7.5 PPG)
G Ra'Heim Moss (2.8 PPG, 2 APG)
Last 5 games
A&M:
UCF (L, 64-61)
East Texas A&M (W, 87-55)
Lamar (W, 97-71)
No. 21 Ohio State (W, 78-64)
Southern (W, 71-54)
Oregon:
UC-Riverside (W, 91-76)
Montana (W, 79-48)
Portland (W, 80-70)
Troy (W, 82-61)
Oregon State (W, 78-75)
A&M team stats:
Oregon team stats
The matchup
The Ducks like to play their game through their big man, Bittle, who had a big outing in their win against Oregon State (23 points, 14 rebounds). Bittle is a legit 7-footer, but Pharrel Payne took on one against Ohio State and stuffed him. Bittle has the size, but Payne and Henry Coleman are much more athletic. I wouldn't be surprised if Coleman faces him up and goes right at him on offense to try to cause foul problems.
The quality matchup will be the battle of the point guards, with Shelstad coming off a 15-point (3-7 from 3), 6-assist showing in Corvallis. Taylor is shooting 42% from 3 and had 17 points and 6 assists in the comeback win over Southern.
The Aggies looked totally disoriented for a half on offense, but completely crushed Southern with their defense in the second half, giving up a total of 15 points. A&M's defense, and Zhuric Phelps, are two areas where the Aggies have a clear-cut advantage.
In their only game against what you'd call a major opponent, Oregon went with a short bench, with only Barthelemy playing more than single-digit minutes (he played 26). If Phelps, Taylor and Obaseki do what they normally do and attack the rim and draw fouls, that's a position Oregon does not want to be in. Of course, A&M needs to make their free throws at a better rate than they did against Southern (54%).
The Aggies should be able to out-athlete Oregon. Whether that'll lead to a win is something we'll have to see.
